Teachers Strive to Improve Reading Capacity of Students in Dataran Isim Distric

RANSIKI (S.MANOKWARI) - Poor reading capacity is a serious problem in South Manokwari Regency, West Papua Province, as Guru Garis Depan (GDD) or “frontline teachers” from the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry have found that many children cannot read even after they have graduated from elementary schools.

“Even at junior and senior high schools, many students cannot read and count properly,” said Wilklif Mamangke, a GGD member at state junior high school SMP Negeri 24 Dataran Isim, South Manokwari, on Saturday.

Dataran Isim Distric is quite remote, located around 150 kilometers from Manokwari, West Papua’s capital.

To help students who are facing difficulties in reading, Wilklif and other GDD personnel plan to develop special assistance for the students, in which they will provide courses to students with reading, writing and counting difficulties outside school hours.

“I hope there are people or institutions that could donate reading books for children here. It will be very helpful for us if we can get such book donations. It is impossible for us to teach them without books,” said Wilklif.

Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan’s special staffer, Ahmad Rizali, said there was a need for support from various parties to help West Papua to catch up with progress in the field of education other regions had achieved.

He said geographical challenges, such as mountainous, isolated areas which were difficult to reach, limited facilities, and culture differences had made it harder for teachers to work in Papua and West Papua. The teaching burdens teachers in Papua and West Papua faced were 10 times heavier than those faced by teachers in other provinces, he added. [TheJakartaPost]